Friday 9/24 – Atlanta
Loop ~ 55 miles
Little Water > Bear Creek>Willow Connector > Decker>Senate Creek> Grouse>Atlanta> Trail Creek> Shake Creek
Riders – Spode Daddy ( Trail Boss & Sweep ), Tim, Jon, Randy, JimBob , Scott, Gerald
Left camp at 11:30 AM.
Midway up Little Water
Horses were right around the corner
Impromptu break .
I moved on right after the photo , however I soon put my front wheel off the trail going around a small tree.
Being the most senior fat man, all I had to do was watch while the crew pulled my bike back on the trail !
After the excursion the front brake felt bad ,like the pads were pushed apart. After one –two pumps they would
feel good. Tried back bleeding by pushing the pads apart. Finally figured out I had bent rotor. Scott was able to
tap the bad spot back in to place with a rusty bolt and rock he found at the cabin.
At the Senate Creek intersection Tim blew past the group.
Randy volunteered to find him and depending where they were, continue on or back track to Senate Creek.
When we got to Atlanta , Randy and Tim were already at the Lodge !
Lunch at the Beaver Lodge in Atlanta.
Shake Creek
In August it had some monster trees down. The trail had been cleaned up and was a quick easy ride.
However I was still fatigued coming down the last set of switch backs .
The group waiting for me near the bottom of Shake .
We got back to camp around 6 PM .
FRIDAY/ SATURDAY - BIG PEAK (Beer , Whiskey and Wine ……..)
Loop – 107 miles
SF Boise Rd > Skeleton> Little Skeleton> Conant Creek> SF Boise Road > Lick Creek >Big Peak >Bluff Creek>
Big Smoky > WF Big Smokey > Snow Slide> Paradise > Paradise Timber > Boise River Road > Skunk Creek>
Boise River > SF Boise River > Conant > Little Skeleton> Skeleton> SF Boise River
Riders – Gary , Spode Daddy , Paul, Ann, Tim, Jon ,Randy, Ben, Gerald, Scott
Thursday evening I floated the idea of riding into Smiley Creek for lunch and fuel. We would have to to pack
oil for the 2-strokes and it would be a ~ 90 mile day. Friday morning I was less ambitious and scaled backed to
”a Big Smoky Loop”, something we could do on a single tank. Gary suggested Lick Creek to avoid some of the rock
gardens on Big Smoky.
We left camp ~ 11 AM and decided to scope out the wash on the South Fork Boise Road about a mile past Skeleton Creek Trail Head.
It’s a major wash , the other end is about 4 miles below Conant Creek, maybe 1-2 miles long.
Randy and Ben said the top end is a major lake.
One of the views from Conant Creek side hill, lots of exposure but not technical.
Stop along one of the saddles on Lick Creek.
Just below the crest of Big Peak where it transitions to Bluff Creek.
Looking back down the East Fork of Big Peak.
The crest of Big Peak/Bluff Creek
Bluff Creek is a lot rougher since the last ride in 2010 ! There are a lot of blow outs and sloughed off
side hills to negotiate as you approach Big Smoky, slow going.
The Rock Pile on Big Smoky. It was easier to “ride” this year with Gerald and Jon spotting/pushing ,
I was able to paddle over.
Upstream of the Rock Pile.
Ann on the Snow Slide side hill, we were just starting to lose daylight in the canyons.
At the bottom of upper Paradise it was dusk. Paul and Ann were waiting for Gary and I.
Randy and Ben ( no light) had booked down the rest of Paradise to Smoky Junction.
Randy ran out of gas on Skeleton and had to transfer gas from Ben, said they got to camp ~ 8 PM.
Scott , Gerald , Tim and Jon took off to the left on the “road”- wrong direction takes you back to
Big Smoky. Gary and I said in harmony that we need to get moving.
I suggested Paradise to Smoky Junction. Gary suggested the road to the bridge on the South Fork.
Gary said “he knew” a short cut to get to Conant from the Skunk Creek road.
Running down the Boise River Road we started hitting reserve near the Methodist Camp.
Darkness set in on Skunk Creek…….. all sense of direction is was lost ……………
"We're lost, but we are sure making good time!"
When we finally turned around we were actually headed in the opposite direction of
Conant Creek.
Right before the Skunk Creek * Boise River Road intersection Ann ran out of gas.
On the way down the hill you could see house lights.
Scott rode down to the cabin to see what opportunities we might have.
Gerald went back for Ann and gave her ride to the intersection.
Scott returned , said the man had gas and would give us any help we needed.
Paul still had a few ounces of gas in his fuel bottle, enough to get Ann to the cabin.
So eight of us show up on Chris’s doorstep at 8:30 PM, we had clocked ~85 miles.
Immediately Chris offers us gas, food and place to sleep !
Gerald and Scott opted for gas and ride back into camp.
The rest of us piled into Chris’s cabin. He had the BSU game on DIRECTV.
[ IF the South Fork Road wasn’t washed out we could of made it back in the dark,
even the guy’s without out lights.
IF we had a better “MODEL” we wouldn’t have had a 100+ mile route .
IF we had left by 9AM it wouldn’t have been dark . ]
Chris was a fantastic host !
Fed us tacos , whisky ,beer and wine and built a fire
Snowmobiling is Chris’s passion. He and his family ride in from the Crouch summit during the winter.
Saturday morning Chris made us coffee , hash browns and toast.
When it warmed up and the chill was out of air, Chris helped us mix 6 gallons of fuel . We were on our way by 10AM ( our earliest start).
We decided to take the roads back to Conant Creek.
Getting Jon’s bike back on the Skeleton side hill.
We rolled into camp around noon, a 35 mile ride .
I was finished for the weekend. My back was sore (starting to feel it in my legs ) from lifting bikes back onto the trail.
I clocked ~ 160+ miles in a couple of days.
